Free Republic

We've just had a pretty substantial hailstorm here in Katy, about 25 miles west of the center of Houston. Hailstones about marble-sized, coming down pretty heavily. Take cover, Houston folks!

Former GA Congressman Bob Barr will not continue his campaign for Congress in 2004. Sources say he just lacks the "fire in the belly" for another campaign. Barr was "gerrymandered" out of his House seat last year.

3 Marines were killed and 7 injured when test firing a new kind of grenade launcher. This happened near the Iraqi city of Al-Kut. The Marines were part of the First MEU.

Reported to be "a biotoxin"

HEY ADMIN MODERATOR! YOU ASLEEP AT THE SWITCH OR WHAT? Several cleanups needed on SEVERAL aisles, and none of you guys are anywhere to be found! PLEASE Answer The Phone!

Could be a long summer for airline travel!

War and Peace President Gordon B. Hinckley I hope that the Lord’s people may be at peace one with another during times of trouble, regardless of what loyalties they may have to different governments or parties. My brethren and sisters, last Sunday as I sat in my study thinking of what I might say on this occasion, I received a phone call telling me that Staff Sergeant James W. Cawley of the U.S. Marines had been killed somewhere in Iraq. He was 41 years of age, leaving behind a wife and two small children.Twenty years ago Elder Cawley was a...

Shep Smith just stated there is a report Brits have found Chemical Ali's body. No confirmation yet.

All Christians know--or should--that their children are constantly the targets of SATANIC ASSAULT. This eye-opening, heart-rending expose' of the conspiracy to entrap our children in the death-spiral of the OCCULT will scare you. Hopefully into ACTION!

Just a vanity, because I'm hoping others share my feelings on this score.

At 9:09 CST, while watching Fox News, they had a report from Chris Lempel (sp), done as a voiceover with an Abu Dhabi TV footage being shown. The footage was of what looked like a H - U - G - E "mushroom cloud" billowing higher and higher. It must have been 5,000 feet high! There was no specific mention of precisely what it was we were looking at but the visual impression was (to me) of a "Daisy Cutter"-sized munition having been used, probably on Republican Guard positions. Has anyone seen a specific report of any such munition having...

OMGOODNESS! Neil Cavuto, Sr. Business Editor and Anchor on FNC, apparently received an email from an "Ivy League Professor" chiding him for his "bias," telling him that a "real journalist" isn't supposed to be so obviously on the side of the United States in this conflict, telling him that he "betrays journalistic ethics" by so doing. Cavuto stated that he wouldn't read the professor's name or affiliation, because what he was about to say in reply was so scathing and personal that he wanted to feel free to say it. Then he LAUNCHED man! Wish I had a transcript! In...

LDS POW Ronald Young, Jr. Finding Comfort When “Our Worst Fears Are Realized”by Maurine ProctorA recently donated red, white and blue wreath sits on the door of a home in Lithia Springs, Georgia and suddenly yellow ribbons are blooming everywhere on mailboxes and trees since Chief Warrant Officer Ronald D. Young, Jr, 26 was captured by the Iraqis Monday morning.His Apache Longbow helicopter went down in fierce fighting over Karbala 50 miles southwest of Baghdad.  Iraqis claim that farmers’ fire shot down the Apache, but the Army believes that the helicopter may have had mechanical difficulties.Two attempts were made to...

For years, legend had it that there was a group of powerful men in Bakersfield secretly living gay lives, sometimes with deadly consequences. When the county's No. 2 prosecutor was stabbed to death in his home last year, the "Lords of Bakersfield" legend broke out into the open and the city's daily newspaper decided to confront it head-on.In a series of stories that ran in January, The Bakersfield Californian found evidence of a ring of closeted gay men who had sex with teenage boys and used their influence to keep from being prosecuted. Four of the men ended up slain...

2 Christian organizations are ready to convert Iraqis Missionaries set to tend to physical, spiritual needs By MARK O'KEEFE Newhouse Service Two leading evangelical Christian missionary organizations say they have teams of workers poised to enter Iraq to address the physical and spiritual needs of a large Muslim population. The Southern Baptist Convention, the country's largest Protestant denomination, and the Rev. Franklin Graham's Samaritan's Purse say workers are near the Iraq border in Jordan and are ready to go in as soon as it is safe. The relief and missionary work is certain to be closely watched because both Graham...

Baptism for the Dead: The Coptic Rationale by John A. TvedtnesThis paper was presented at a symposium held 5 June 1981 in Jerusalem, sponsored by the L.A. Mayer Memorial Museum of Islamic Art and the Israel Ministry of Education and Culture and later published in Special Papers of the Society for Early Historic Archaeology, No. 2 (September 1989). The Jerusalem symposium marked the opening of an exhibit of Coptic art at the museum. I was one of two American scholars invited to speak. Other participants came from England, Belgium, Austria and Israel. This paper is admittedly out-of-date, having been succeeded...

<p>Six weeks ago, I ate lunch with men employed by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in the southern region of Iraq where today Iraqis and coalition soldiers are engaged in heavy firefights.</p> <p>In and around the city of Basra, the notoriously oppressed Shiite Muslims are offering stiff resistance to "Operation Iraqi Freedom" -- a less than convincing euphemism to people there, who were under British rule as recently as 45 years ago.</p>

Today during Gen. Franks' news conference I noticed that he was wearing the shoulder patch indicating the First Cavalry Division. Having NO military background, I am curious. Since he is a four-star (I think that's a "Lieutenant General," isn't it?), which is a VERY high rank, and is in command of MANY divisions of troops (he is actually an ARMY commander, isn't he--as in "Third Army" or what have you?) why is he sporting the insignia of that one particular division? Thanks, FReepers, I know you'll come up with the answer!

WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites) telephoned Elizabeth Smart's father on Thursday to express the nation's joy over her return home after being abducted nine months ago. AP Photo   "He said millions of Americans were praying for the Smart family," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. In the brief telephone conversation with Ed Smart, the president said he and his wife, Laura, were heartened by the news that Elizabeth had been found and returned home. Bush met Ed Smart last fall during a White House conference on child exploitation.

Sutton freed because of faulty DNA evidence in rape case By ROMA KHANNA and STEVE McVICKER Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle Josiah Sutton was released from prison today after serving more than four years on a rape conviction that relied on faulty DNA evidence. HEAR IT NOW Audio: Former inmate Josiah Sutton talks about: • How it feels to be out • Maintaining his innocence and continuing to fight • The first thing he wants to do as a free man • The fact that the real rapist is still at large • His future Audio requires the free RealPlayer. "I...